CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of study

          According to (Akwanya, 2010), language has often been identified as the most unique attribute of man and without language, there is no society. Language does not only bring meanings to the world, it also shape one’s cognitive process. Such as perception, interpretation and judgment. Also according to William (1992) he agrees that language embodies the spirit of people who speak it also that grammatical forms have influence on the development of ideas.

 Although English language is the country’s official language, it is also a second language because Nigerians already had their first language that is their mother tongue (li) before the invasion of the foreign language “English language” into the country. English language did not come to Nigeria on its own. Its movement into Nigeria was caused by a lot of factors like trading, slavery colonization and missionary activities and this also led to the existence of pidgin language23 that is rampart all over the world but mainly in Nigeria.

The origins of Pidgin English

          Pidgin English or broken English (as it is called) originated during the slave trade era as a means of communication between the Europeans and the Africans. It was the language used in their business transaction in the seventeenth century. It is a continuousseries of English Pidgins and creoles spoken by other West-African countries such as Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Ghana.

          In the 19th century, undocumented laborers from China, Portugal, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, and many other nations were brought to work on plantations, alongside Hawaiians that were owned and operated by Caucasian North Americans. Pidgin Hawaiian was the first Pidgin to develop on plantation in the 19th century, for Hawaiian was the main language of interethnic communication in schools and society until 1875, when the Reciprocity treaty with the United States was signed. Due to their spontaneous adaptability, Pidgins are unlike other languages in that they can be as structured or as unstructured as needed. Pidgins are  not used as mother tongues, although over time and generations, the language evolves is adopted and changes gradually to become first language for new generation

          Historically this occurs in situations where native language is seen as coordinate, or banned in the case of slavery, and is the point where Pidgin arguably moves to become a creek, or a normalized language. Scholars debated up till now, to what point can Pidgin language evolve to become a Creole and replace a native language over the generations. Complicated staff for such a seemingly simple language set.

          The Nigerian Pidgin English is a version of English and Ethic Nigerian languages spoken as a kind of lingua Franca across Nigeria and is referred to as “Broken English” or even Broken bottle” it is estimated that Nigerian Pidgin English is the native language of approximate 3 to 5 million people and is a second language for at least another 75 million people. English introduced to Nigeria during the colonial era, was chosen as Nigeria’s only official language. However not all the English spoken in Nigeria is the Standard English recognizable in most English-speaking countries. A new way of speaking and interacting among non-native speaker has developed with its own unique pronunciation and vocabulary. This form of communication is Nigerian Pidgin English also referred to as Pidgin by the speakers.  Although Pidgin English has been badly misunderstood by many English language experts as being dirty. It doesn’t stop anybody who speaks it to. ICONS like felaAnikulapa- kuti have been misunderstood but that didn’t stop him from singing all his afro beats with Pidgin English.

A1though pidgin is not recognized in national development, Pidgin English has been growing fast since its inception. In essence, two languages spoken commonly in Nigeria especially in inter-ethnic situations are English language and Pidgin English (Gani-Kilama, 1992). In the case of English language even though it is found in every part of the country it is restricted to those who have formal education. As for Pidgin English, not only is it found in every part of the country but it is also spoken by people of all classes weather they are illiterates or formally educated. Elugbe and Omamar (1991) discuss the use of Pidgin English in academic by some lecturers and students.

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